Rocko's Modern Life
Rocko's Modern Life is an American animated television series created by Joe Murray for Nickelodeon. The series centers on the surreal life of an anthropomorphic Australian-immigrant wallaby named Rocko as well as his friends: the gluttonous steer Heffer, the neurotic turtle Filburt, and Rocko's faithful dog Spunky. It is set in the fictional town of O-Town, and is laden with adult humor, including double entendre, innuendo, and satirical social commentary. Murray created the title character for an unpublished comic book series in the late 1980s, and later reluctantly pitched the series to Nickelodeon, who were looking for edgier cartoonists for their new Nicktoons. The network gave the staff a large amount of creative freedom, with the writers targeting both children and adults. The show premiered on September 18, 1993 and ended on November 24, 1996, totaling four seasons and 52 episodes. The show is notable for launching the careers of voice actors, including Tom Kenny and Carlos Alazraqui. After the show's cancellation, much of the staff regrouped to work on SpongeBob SquarePants, created by producer Stephen Hillenburg. Rocko's Modern Life follows the life of a timid Australian immigrant wallaby named Rocko (voiced by Carlos Alazraqui), who encounters various dilemmas and situations regarding otherwise mundane aspects of life. His best friends are: Heffer Wolfe (Tom Kenny), a fat and enthusiastic steer; Filburt (Doug Lawrence), a neurotic turtle who often feels uncomfortable or disturbed; and his faithful dog Spunky (Alazraqui). Living next door to Rocko are a middle-aged couple, Ed Bighead (Charlie Adler), a cynical and crass toad who despises Rocko; and his compassionate wife Bev (Adler). All of the characters in Rocko's Modern Life are anthropomorphic animals of varying species, the vast majority of whom are mentally unstable. Murray said that he matched personalities of his characters to the various animals in the series to form a social caricature. Rocko's Modern Life is set in a generic fictional American town called O-Town, located near the Great Lakes. Places in the town include: Chokey Chicken (later renamed "Chewy Chicken" due to the former name referring to masturbation), a parody of KFC and a favorite restaurant/hang-out place for Rocko, Heffer, and Filburt; Conglom-O Corporation, a megacorporation with the slogan "We own you" that owns everything in town; Heck, a place of eternal torment run by Peaches where "bad people" go when they die; Holl-o-Wood, a town that resembles Hollywood; and Kind of a Lot O' Comics, a comic book store owned by a cruel toad named Mr. Smitty, where Rocko works. Many of the locations in Rocko's Modern Life have the letter "O" in them; for example, O-Town and Conglom-O Corporation. When asked about the use of "O" in his show, Murray said: I always got a big kick out of the businesses that were 'House-O-Paint', or 'Ton-O-Noodles', because their names seemed to homogenize what they sold, and strip the products of true individuality and stress volume ... and we all know, the American dream is volume! So what better company to create volume than 'Conglom-O', and since a majority of the town worked at Conglom-O, it should be called 'O' Town. I also wanted the town to be 'anytown' USA, and I used to love sports players with a big ZERO on their back. It was funny to me. Cast Category:Nickelodeon Category:Cartoons